I. Introduction
In the last 10 years, the defining issues with respect to H2 economics have changed dramatically. Reducing the demand on fossil resources remains a significant concern for many nations. Renewable-based processes like solar or wind-driven electrolysis and photobiological water splitting hold great promise for clean hydrogen production; however, advances must still be made before these technologies can be economically competitive. For the near- and mid-term, generating hydrogen from biomass may be the more practical and viable, renewable and potentially carbon-neutral (or even carbon-negative in conjunction with sequestration) option [1]. In 2004, the International Energy Agency's (IEA) Program on the Production and Utilization of Hydrogen launched its new Task 16, Hydrogen from Carbon-Containing Materials, to bring together international experts to investigate some of these near- and mid-term options for producing hydrogen with reduced environmental impacts. In addition to large-scale fossil-based production with carbon sequestration and production from biomass, small-scale reforming for distributed generation is included in the activity [2]. The wide range of options for sources, converters and applications shown in Fig. 1, though not exhaustive, illustrates the flexibility of hydrogen and fuel cell energy systems.